The
49th Annual American Open (the first tournament to become both an
American Classic and Heritage event) drew an improved turnout of 263 players to
the Doubletree in Orange, California over Thanksgiving weekend. With five GMs
(another two canceled shortly prior), five IMs, and a WGM, the tournament lived
up to its reputation as a strong one...and proved, as it has for many years, that
a schedule that allows the option of playing on Thanksgiving day works.

Two
of the GMs, both 25 (a relative victory for youth), Timur Gareev and Mackenzie
Molner, topped the 44-player Open section with 6½ points of 8.

Blindfold
wizard Gareev, who won the trophy on tiebreaks, now lives in San Diego. He
started out 4-0 in the three-day schedule (Game/1), and it was there that he
played his favorite games. In the second round, he took down fellow GM Enrico
Sevillano.

In Round 3, his victim was
the strong IM Andranik Matikozyan, in which he gave high marks to the move ...18.b4.

Another win against GM Jaan
Ehlvest (making his first American Open appearance), and Timur led the field by
a half point over Molner, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, and IM Larry Remlinger. A draw
with Molner and a win over Abrahamyan brought him to the point where quick
draws against GM Melik Khachiyan and IM John Bryant assured a first place tie.

Molner, just recently
awarded his GM title, lives in Arizona. He played the traditional four-day
schedule, with moral support from his wife Amanda Mateer, who didn't play
(though she helped out with the Scholastic). His best game came in Round 3,
when he tied up IM Philip Wang's French Defense (the unusual 7.Bb5 is best
answered by 7...Be7 followed up by castling).

Mac's other key wins
included a six-hour marathon against Remlinger in Round 6 and a shorter one
against Daniel Mousseri in the finale. (The 14-year-old Mousseri, though rated
only 2230, upset three FMs and drew with Remlinger to reach Board Two in Round
8. He gained 52 rating points.)

Ehlvest and Bryant tied for
third, 6-2. Jaan had a key win over IM Philip Wang in the sixth round and moved
into his position by outplaying Remlinger in the finale. He equalizes as Black
in a Leningrad Dutch and slowly outplayed Larry. Houdini suggests 18.f3 and
20.Nf2 as improvements, and the pawn sac 26.g4 is simply too ambitious. Black
defends his king and then consolidates with the extra pawn. White's last move
appears to be a hallucination, but the position is lost anyway.

Remlinger did show that a 72-year-old can still play the game,
though, tying for Under 2450 honors at 5-3. (Akopyan, San Diego junior Varun
Krishnan, and Northern Californian Hayk Manvelyan joined in the tie.) Larry set
up a nice mating net against the 16-year-old Arizona master Bryan Hu in the
third round:

Larry also showed fortitude in Round 5, surviving a worse
position against Abrahamyan to reach a drawn ending. (Despite the natural
inclination to reinforce a pinned piece, 27...Rxc5 seems to be a substantial
improvement for Black.)

Abrahamyan had her big moment in the third round, downing
perennial (four clear wins and three ties) American Open champ Khachiyan.

He had an edge out of the Giuoco Pianissimo
(a favorite of many of Southern California's top players), and 24...Nxf3+ 25.Qxf3
Nb4 would have kept Black well on top. Then it's equal. Melik rejected the
tempting 26...exd3 27.Nxf7 Kxf7 28. Bxd3 Rxd3 29.Qg6+ Kf8 30.f6 Qe5+ 31.Kg1 Rd7
when Black defends.

Later, 39.Bxb7 would have retained a small edge for
White, the natural 39.Bxe4 allowed a knight fork trick that appeared to put Black
back on top...except for the amusingly trapped rook on g6. A few moves later, the
"horizon effect" finally wears off and the computer acknowledges White's
superiority. Returning the Exchange
simply left White with a won pawn ending.

Tatev Abrahamyan

Tatev
was ultimately clear fifth at 5½ after drawing with IM Philip Wang in the last
round. And Philip had his best game in the fifth round; he annotates:

34.Bxa6 was the last chance.
34...Qg5!
Now Black is winning. The
game ends attractively.
35.Rb1 Bd5 36.f8Q+ Kxf8
37.Bf1 e3! 38.Qxe3 Bxg2+ 39.Kg1 Bxh2+
Followed by Bxf1+I regretted
missing 39...Bf3+ 40.Qxg5 Bxh2 mate, but my move was good enough.
0-1

Many-time champ Khachiyan
withdrew after drawing with Gareev in Round 7. This was simply not his year,
and he didn't feel well. He did give a well-received lecture, as did Gareev and
the always popular IM Jeremy Silman.

Though not finishing at the
top, some teenaged masters besides Mousseri made their presence felt. In the
first round WFM Simone Liao upset IM Jack Peters, who also yielded a draw to
Arizonan Tony Yim in Round 5. Yusheng
Xia almost had a drawn opposite bishops against Gareev in the first
round of the G/1. In the nature of such a time control, the critical moves that
brought the GM the win are lost to posterity.

Nicky Korba

As usual, the section
winners were a varied bunch. Nicky Korba, 16, of nearby Manhattan Beach took
the Under 2200 section by a full point, earning his first Master rating. Nicky,
who has been playing in tournaments for only three years, won the Junior Grand
Prix in 2011. Under 2000 saw a three-way tie: Dmitry Cherkasky,38,of Venice,
California; Hans Niemann, 10, from the Bay Area; and Hao Lu, a middle-aged
recent Chinese immigrant. The latter two earned their first Expert rating.

Ruben Burciaga of nearby
Whittier took Under 1800 honors (by a full point) for the third time in four
years (one was a tie). This is his last tournament as a Class B rating, as his
prize earned him an 1800 floor. Three players tied in Under 1600: Martin Leung,
27, a video game pianist and student of USC coach Jack Peters; Shashetha
"Bobby" Ruwanpura, 19, from the San Fernando Valley; and nine-year old Gabriel
Eidelman of Santa Monica. In Under 1400, Vincent Maggio, 38, a personal trainer
and performance nutrition specialist who has been playing for only a year, tied
with Brian Morris, a Northern California tournament organizer.

The mixed doubles concept
was used for the first time in a Southern California-organized tournament,
paying out $700. Korba and Agata Bykovtsev, both playing in Under 2200, took
top honors with a combined 11½ points. Close behind were WGM Tatev Abrahamyan
and young Kirk Ghazarian (Under 1600) with 11, and Maggio and Serafina Show
(Under 1600), at 10½. Of the 22 females in the tournament, three somehow didn't
make it onto a team - better publicity needed! (And players who want to
withdraw might consider the effect on their partner!) Medals in addition to
prize money for the top three in each section was another innovation.

Some interesting games in
the class sections never see the light of day, so we offer an imperfect but fascinating
contest between two youngsters in Under 2200. White stands better through most
of the game in a typical King's Indian, but Daniel Lin's attacking persistence
finally prevails. Among the possible improvements for White were 28.Ke1 (time
to get out of Dodge!), 31.Nc3 (equal), and after a minor error by Black
(33...Nxg2 improves), 35.Rxg2 hxg2 36.gxh5 would have restored a small edge for
White. 36.Nac2 and 37.Bg3 were the last chances; after the queen trade White's
king dies in a crossfire.

Side events included the 46
player Blitz, with Gareev's 10-0 score lapping the field by two points.
Twelve-year old Aaron Chang, an A player, tied for third, ahead of seven
masters. The Blitz always brings out some veterans who no longer have the time
(or stamina?) for the main event. The Action event, with a somewhat
disappointing 15 participants, was won by FM Mark Duckworth.

The Scholastic championship
drew a total of 309. Winners included Joaquin Perkins (Varsity K-12), Bowen Liu
(Varsity K-6), Rianne Ke (Varsity K-3), Harry Song (K-12 Under 1200), Tejas
Ramunjam (K-9 Under 1000), Alton Qian (K-6 Under 800), Aaron Chizhik (K-6 Under
600), Alex Frank Wang (K-3 Under 600), and Ming Lu (K-1). Whew, no ties! And a
plethora of trophies were awarded.
We commented last year on the physical setup, with the Scholastic
taking up the ballroom for the last two days. Alas, the situation didn't
improve this year; the main tournament players spent those critical rounds even
further away from "control central" and the pairing computer, in several rooms
on the second floor of the hotel, with insufficient supervision. Several
embarrassing pairing errors occurred because of poor communication.

As for the good news, most
players were satisfied and grateful to Chess Palace and the Ong family for
organizing the event and creating a festive atmosphere with the lectures and
raffles. The main event paid out $26,700 in place and class prizes. And, the
realization that the tournament has outgrown the Doubletree has sunk in, and a
search is already underway for a hotel that can comfortably accommodate both
the American Open and its scholastic offshoot. We hope to see an even bigger
turnout at the gala 50th anniversary in 2014!
See
the rating report on MSA.